Centered Flow

Welcome. So in this 20-minute flow practice we're going to really focus on the core, core strengthening, and will be a bit heating. So we'll start on our backs. When you're ready you can lay back. I'll meet you there. And then right away let's hug the right knee into your chest and then start to let your left leg go long on the mat. And as you hug the right knee in, see if you can draw the low belly in and up and relax the shoulders a little bit. So just giving the knee a squeeze in. Beautiful. And then as you're ready we'll switch sides. So hugging the left knee into your chest, let the right leg go long, and you can relax the leg down onto the mat. Giving the left knee a squeeze in. Again, engaging through the low belly. So drawing the low belly in and up, softening through the shoulders. Nice. And then just working with the legs we'll start to move from side to side with the breath. So inhale, right knee in, left leg straighten. Maybe float the left ankle up off the earth, the heel up off the earth, an inch or so. And then switch sides. Left knee in, right leg lengthens and hovers. Inhale, right. Exhale, left knee in. And then just moving at the pace of your breath for a few more rounds. So right knee in, left leg straightens, left knee in, right leg straightens. Take one more like that just with the legs. Switch sides as you're ready. Good. And then let's take it up a little bit. So interlace fingers behind the back of the neck. Let the elbows go wide. Right knee in, left leg long. And then start to lift the head, neck, and shoulders up off the earth. Good. And then switch sides. Left knee in, right leg long. Right knee in, left leg long. One more like this. Left knee in, right leg long. And then maybe take it into yogi bicycles. Opposite elbow, opposite knee as you move from side to side. So left elbow, right knee. Right elbow, left knee. Take two more full rounds. So right side, left side. Make sure you're breathing. Right side, left side. Beautiful. And then let that go. Let the soles of the feet come down to the earth. And let's stretch the front body by pressing up into bridge pose. So just pressing through the soles of the feet.

Lift the hips up and just feel that nice stretch across the front body. You're just coming to about 50% of your effort here. Beautiful. And then as you're ready, lower hips down, coming on to your back. And then hugging the knees into your chest. Take the hands behind your knees. Start to rock up and down along the length of the spine. And you might take this a few times. It's really massaging the spine. Maybe you catch yourself in Navasana as you come up. So just a little bit of a hover as you land. And then coming back to rolling, coming up. And we'll make our way to all fours as you're ready. So finding a tabletop. Shoulders over wrists, hips over knees. Moving into Cat-Cow. So as you're ready, inhale, lift the chest, arch the back, look up and lengthen. And then as you exhale, let the tailbone melt down, press the floor away, round through the upper back. And then inhale, coming back into cow pose, arching the back, look up and lengthen. Exhale, Cat, press the floor away and round. Good. And then one more. Inhale, lengthening. And then exhale, rounding. Beautiful. And then find a neutral spine. Let's just stretch the wrists for a moment. So start to turn the fingertips out to the side a little bit and then start to shift the weight from side to side. So the fingers can face the side of your mat. And then rocking side to side, just stretching through the wrists. And then if it feels okay, you can start to turn the fingers towards you maybe one hand at a time, feels like enough, or you can take both hands back and just feel that wrist stretch. So you can shift the weight back and forth a little bit, maybe bend the elbows a little bit. Good. And then coming back to tabletop. And from here, start to reach your left leg up and back. So float the leg up off the earth, flex your foot, keep the hips even. And then keeping both hands firmly planted on the earth, allow a big full breath in. As you exhale, knee to nose. Draw everything in. Good. And then inhale, lengthen it back out. So reach through the crown of the head, reach back through your heels. Four more like that with the breath. So inhale to lengthen. Exhale, knee to nose. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, knee to nose. Two more. Inhale, lengthen.

Exhale, knee to nose. Last one. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, knee to nose. And then lengthen it out. You're gonna tuck your right toes and then the left leg lifts all the way up and back for a three-leg downward-facing dog. And just take a moment here, bend the knee, open up through the hip. You might roll out the ankle a few times in one direction and then the other. Beautiful. And then straighten through your left leg. So square off your hips. Allow a big breath in. And as you exhale again, draw the knee to your nose. Hover in plank pose. Press the floor away. Good. And then inhale, sweep the leg up. Three-leg dog. Exhale, knee to nose. Hover. One more. Inhale, draw the leg up. Three-leg dog. Exhale, knee to nose. Pause. Gaze forward. And then step your foot all the way through between your hands. Lower your back knee down. And then as you come up, we'll bring the left hand to the left thigh and then reach your right arm all the way up. So just finding Anjali Asana. Feel the opening up through the chest, but keep the core involved. So you're still drawing the low belly in and up, protecting your lower back. And just take a moment to breathe. Good. And then bring your right hand down. Tuck your back toes, lift the back knee up, and then let's open up to a twist. So opening the chest to the left, maybe reaching that left arm up, maybe taking it over your ear. And just take a moment to breathe. Nice. And then lower your left hand down. Step back to plank pose, top of a push-up, and let's pause and hold here for five breaths. So again, bringing the shoulders over the wrists, hips in line with your shoulder blades. Gazing forward slightly. One long line of energy. Just a couple more breaths. Maybe you feel a little shaky like me. Good. And then lower your knees down, slowly lower all the way down. And we'll come up to cobra pose, draw the shoulders away from the ears, press the tops of the feet into the earth, or to peel the chest up any amount.

Beautiful. And then lower down. And then tuck your toes firm your thighs, lift your knees up off the earth, and maybe lift up into plank pose from here, and then come to your downward facing dog. Beautiful. Lower the knees down, take a brief child's pose, let your hips sink back to the heels, let the head, neck, shoulders relax, and just let something go with every exhale. Just a couple breaths here to check in. Feel the heartbeat. And we'll set up for side two. As you're ready, meet me back in a tabletop position. So meeting there. Find your alignment. And then this time we'll reach the right leg back, float the leg up, flex through the right foot. Good. And then draw the low belly in and up, lengthen through the crown of your head, allow a big breath in. And then as you exhale, knee to nose, hover. Inhale to lengthen, four more. Exhale, knee to nose. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, knee to nose. Two more. Inhale. Exhale. Last one. Inhale. Exhale. Nice work. And then inhale to lengthen. Tuck the left toes this time. Lift the leg up and back, three leg down dog. Bend the knee, open up through the hip, and roll out your ankle a few times. And keep pressing evenly through both hands. Let the shoulders stay square-ish toward the front of your mat. And then start to straighten through the right leg. Big breath in. As you exhale, knee to nose, round through the upper back. Good. Inhale, three leg dog. Exhale, knee to nose. And then one more. Inhale, lengthen up. Exhale, knee to nose. Pause. Look forward. Step your foot all the way through between your hands. Lower your back knee down. Good. And this time right hand comes to right thigh. Sweep the left arm up. And then just relax in. Soften the left shoulder, the right shoulder.

Keep the core engaged. Drawing the low belly in and up so you're lifting up and out of the side waist. And you can sink down a little deeper keeping that protection in the lower back. Nice. Take one more big breath in. And then lower the left hand down. Tuck your back toes. Lift the back knee up. Energize through that back leg. Reach your right arm up and twist. Sacking shoulders. Maybe the top arm comes over your ear. Drawing the right shoulder back into the shoulder girdle and breathe. Good. And then lower the right hand down. We'll step back holding plank. Nice. Draw the low belly in and up. Reach through the crown of your head. Breathe. A couple more breaths. You're welcome to lower the knees. Otherwise in one piece hug the elbows in. Lower down. Cobra is the inhale. Draw the shoulders back. Lift up. And then downward facing dog. Exhale. Beautiful. And as you're ready rise up onto the toes. Bend the knees. Look forward. Step or lightly float to your hands. Come to the front of the mat. Come halfway up. Inhale. Lengthen. Fold in. Exhale. And then root down through the feet. Rise up to stand. Gather your hands together in front of the heart. And just take one moment to close your eyes and check in. Notice how you feel. Again feeling the heart beating in the chest. Notice the grounded energy beneath the soles of your feet. Maybe just take a moment to lift up through the toes. Spread the toes wide. And then place them back down on the earth so you can really feel grounded and supported by the earth beneath you. Nice. And then blinking the eyes open as you're ready will come into chair pose. Utkatasana. So sink the weight into the heels. Sweep the arms up. Keep the length in the spine. As you shift the weight back gaze in front of you. And then take a look down. Make sure you can see your toes. If not shift back just a little bit. Then we'll hold for five breaths. Good. Maybe sinking down just a little bit deeper. A few more breaths here. Doing great. And relax your shoulders. This time we're gonna lower, lower, lower, lower, lower. All the way down. Feel free to use your hands as you come into Navasana. So lifting the legs up. Let your shins be aligned with the mat. Flex through your toes or your feet. Spread your toes. Bring your nose in line with your toes. Reach the arms forward.

Good. And then holding here. Draw your shoulders back as you lift up through your sternum and through your heart. If you want to straighten out the legs go for it. But try not to round if you do that. I'm gonna stay with the knees bent here. And then just holding for a few more breaths. Feel free to close your eyes. You're balancing up on your sitting bones. Lengthening through the spine. And then shining up through the heart. So maybe lifting just a little bit more through the heart center. Good. And then welcome to stay right here. We're gonna take a few rounds of Ardha Navasana. Five. So inhale as you lengthen up. Lengthen through the spine. And then exhale just come halfway down. Hover. Good. And then the inhale will bring you all the way back up to Navasana. So four more like that. Exhale. Hover. Inhale. Come up. Exhale. Hover. Inhale up. Three more. Exhale. Hover. Inhale up. Two. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Good. Bring the soles of the feet down to the earth. I might have thrown an extra one in there. I'm not sure. Bonus. So bring the hands back. Lift up. Stretch through the front body. Take a big full breath in. And then sigh it out. Let some bingo. And then lower your hips down. And then we'll come on to our back. Just hugging the knees into the chest. Good. And as you hug the knees in, just rock a little bit from side to side. Massaging through the lower back. And then draw the knees in circles in one direction. And then the other. And then we'll set up for a couple rounds of bridge. Or if you want to go a little deeper into wheel, you're welcome to do that. So we'll start with bridge pose. Bring the soles of the feet hips width. Walk your heels in towards you. Maybe brushing the backs of the heels with your fingertips. And then press through the palms of the hands. Press through the soles of the feet. Lift the hips up. And then maybe hold on to the outside of your mat. Or you can start to roll the shoulders down. Interlacing fingers behind the low back. Drawing your chest up towards your chin. And holding for a few more breaths. Let the inner thighs roll down. Try to release any clenching in the back body.

Beautiful. And then as you're ready, release the arms first. Roll your way all the way down. And then constructive rest. Step the feet as wide as your mat. Let the knees knock into touch. And just bring the hands to the low belly. Just take a moment to check in. And just notice. Beautiful. And then as you're ready, round two. I'm gonna stay with bridge pose. If you know you want to go a little deeper, feel free to come into Urdhva Dhanurasana or a wheel. So again, if you're coming into bridge, step the feet hips with. Walk the heels in. Press through the soles of the feet. Lift up. Bringing the chest up toward the chin. Interlacing. And then breathe. Maybe close your eyes. By breath. Last couple of breaths here. Beautiful. And then releasing arms first. Slowly rolling all the way down. And this time let's bring the soles of the feet together. Knees wide. Feel the release in the lower back. Supta Baddha Konasana. Getting to the hips just a little bit. And breathe. And we'll take a spinal twist. So letting the left leg go long. Hug your right knee into your chest. And then with your left hand, draw the right knee across the body. Roll to the left hip. And reaching your right arm out to the right. And taking a gaze over that right shoulder. Letting the right shoulder blade melt down. Just wringing it all out. Good. And then coming back through center. Unravel. We'll switch sides. So neutralize the spine. Maybe bringing the soles of the feet to the earth as you adjust. And then right leg long. Left knee hugs in. Give it a squeeze. And then with the right hand, draw the left knee across the body. Reach the left arm out to the left. And gazing over the left shoulder. And just wringing it all out.

Allowing a few cleansing breaths here. Beautiful. And then unravel. Neutralize. Hug both knees in. Give them a squeeze. Maybe rock a little bit. Side to side. Just balancing out the two sides. Nice. And then whenever you're ready, I'm coming in toward Shavasana. So straightening the legs out. Just feel free to set up however you need to to feel really supported here. Letting go of the effort and the body and the breath. Just letting go. Letting be. Breathing. Breathing.

Breathing. Breathing. Breathing. And then bringing the hands wherever in the body you might need a little love. So maybe it's the belly, the heart, tops of the eyes. Let's take a moment to notice. And then we'll meet in a comfortable seat. So take your time making your way up to seated. Just letting that be an extension of your Shavasana.

Gathering hands together. Anjali Mudra. Mudra of gratitude in front of the heart. Thank you so much for sharing this core focus practice with me. Namaste.